Rot Squad

Calling all volunteers! Join the Rot Squad on Saturday April 8, 2017 and take part in an innovative project to monitor the “rot rate” in headwater streams!

Rot Squad Mission:

Your mission – should you choose to accept it – is to deploy a series of cotton strips and temperature loggers in headwater steams across southern York Region in teams of 3 to 4. Each Rot Squad will be responsible for deployment at 2 streams within the span of 4 hours on Saturday April 8, 2017. Rot Squads will also document factors that may affect rot rate including stream width, flow, substrate, over and the type of riparian vegetation. Each Rot Squad will have a Crew Leader that will be trained in advance. This mission will take place rain or shine.

The cotton strips will be left to rot over a period of 3 weeks and then collected by Rot Squad organizers on Saturday April 29, 2017 to assess the rot rate.

This mission requires volunteers to be physically able to carry equipment and access streams to take measurements and deploy equipment. This mission will require the use personal vehicles to travel from the home base to your assigned streams (1 vehicle/Rot Squad). Volunteers must be 18 years of age or older.

Already have a team you’d like to work with? You can indicate this in the registration form. Each Rot Squad team member must register individually.

Home base:

Our home base will be the Weston Theatre at Black Creek Pioneer Village on Saturday, April 8, 2017. There, we will:

Provide you with training to successfully complete your mission

Provide you with a package with maps, directions, the protocol and datasheets

Provide you with deployment and safety equipment

Provide you with a delicous catered lunch!

Await your return to home base with the equipment and completed datasheets

Provide you with a Rot Squad certification of participation!

All Rot Squad volunteers will meet at homebase at 9am. Click here for the April 8 agenda.

Up for a bigger challenge?

We are looking for Rot Squad Crew Leaders! These volunteers will receive advanced in-depth and full-day training on the protocol and will be expected to lead their Rot Squads to successful mission completion. Rot Squad Crew Leader training will take place at the Weston Theatre at Black Creek Pioneer Village on Saturday, April 1, 2017 – no joke!

All Rot Squad Crew Leaders will meet at the home base at 9am. Click here for the April 1 agenda.